SW16: Seminole Canyon to Falcon

Sunset View

This is the evening sky at Seminole Canyon State Park:

Day 29: March 5

Time to move towards the Rio Grande Valley and more birds (we hope). The weather is meant to be hot and sunny.

It was a fauna drive as we saw a Javelina on our way out of the park and an Elk herd farther down the road. This viewing was when we pulled in to view an Historical Marker (they're all over Texas) that noted remnants of a Mexican family's original ranch which was abandoned and taken over by The Texas Rangers who were stationed there “to rid the country of Indians and Bandits” (not MY words):

We stocked up in the cute town of Alpine and continued our drive through areas where the desert trees and shrubs are beginning to flower.

It's quite a barren stretch of land along Highway 90. There are cattle ranches, oil fields, fracking fields, Border Patrol track traps, and not much to see. Why anyone (after being rid of “Indians and Bandits”) would have wanted to settle here is beyond me!

But we did discover that the enchiladas at the Stripes gas stations are cheap and good!

The sky was overcast (the first time in 29 days), but the Yucca was in flower (and goats were EATING the Yucca). And it was 70F.

We stopped for another short visit in Langtry to the Judge Roy Bean Museum:

...and got to Seminole Canyon State Park (Site #27 E/W $20). It was too windy to ride the canyon trails, so we walked some and got some desert flower shots:

Here's the view from my chair (that's Mexico beyond the desert):

Day 30: March 6

It was still windy and overcast, so we decided to move on.

As we drove past miles of track traps and Border Patrol trucks, we wondered why we've never ever seen any Mexicans crossing into the US! Then we wondered if Donald Trump had ever driven these miles that we have. There is NO NEED for a wall! Just sayin'

We hit our first (favourite) H.E.B. Grocery store, AND we saw our first Blue Bonnets:

At the next Border Patrol Station, the officer spoke to me, and it was the first time anyone wanted to look inside (he had said he'd liked our MoHo, so I teased him that he just wanted a peek).

The oil towns were either declining (Carrizo Springs) or booming (Eagle's Pass). We didn't get my BBQ yet, but did get to Falcon State Park and got Site #128 ($16 E/W) and settled in for a hot (88F) and windy afternoon.

We set out oranges and our food and water feeders and saw this little guy:

...but not much else!

Here's the view from my chair:

Day 31: March 7

The night was noisy with wind and what we thought were Javelina eating leftover birdseed.

The morning brought us those Javelinas (seven in total!):

...and a few birds.

It was getting hot, so we rode around the park and didn't see much “new” and came back to the site. But, again, we noted the colour we've never seen here before:

We even put the air conditioner on “for Mandy” (got up to 90F).

We had some visitors to our “new” feeder (we abandoned the “Javelina Feeder” and retrieved one left behind by former campers). It was a great afternoon of reading and birdwatching. Here are some of my favourite pictures:

And here's the sunset view from my chair: